Diagonal Flaking from Kotzebue, Alaska

Extract

The illustrated blade fragment (Fig. 22) turned up in a purchased lot of archaeological specimens at Kotzebue, in 1941. It appears to be the tip of a long, thin blade broken clean near the middle. It is diagonally flaked from translucent, smoky chalcedony, a material which shows up occasionally in sites of the Kobuk River region. The Yumalike flaking, in some cases all the way across the blade leaving each face rounded rather than longitudinally ridged, is not, however, reported from other sites in Alaska.

This object was offered for sale along with various artifacts of types common in our excavations. The Eskimo to whom they belonged said they had been all collected and saved for some time by members of his family.